Former East Precinct Commander busts gun-carrying gangster

We were surprised to learn just who was “riding shotgun”, on patrol in the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood, this week …

While he was the Portland Police Bureau East Precinct Commander, now-Chief Mike Reese was frequently on-scene, responding to major events in East Portland. East Portland News archive photo

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
To many downtown Portland government officials, problems in outer East Portland neighborhoods appear to be nothing more than a troubling concept.

Apparently, this isn’t true for Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Chief Mike Reese.

PPB Bureau Gang Enforcement Team officer John Billard’s patrol car partner the evening of July 25 was Portland’s “top cop”, Chief Reese, as the duo kept their eyes open for trouble while cruising outer East Portland’s Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood.

Finding the driver they stopped at the intersection did not have a driver’s license led Billard and Reese to more carefully check him out. Turns out, that’s not all he didn’t have. But what he did have was illegal.

About 7:30 p.m., Billard and his boss stopped a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass 4-door for traffic infractions at SE 118th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard.

“The lone occupant and driver of the car did not have a driver’s license or insurance,” is how PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson relayed the story. “The driver consented to a search by additional officers from the Gang Enforcement Team, who showed up to cover the traffic stop.”

Police say this man, 20-year-old Antonio Mayshack, had a loaded handgun in his waistband when they stopped him.

According to official records, at 7:45 p.m., officers arrested 20-year-old Antonio Mayshack, and took him into custody – after discovering a loaded handgun in the waistband of his pants.
“Mayshack was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail on charges of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Loaded Firearm, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon,” Simpson stated.

Mayshack remains in custody in the Multnomah County Detention Center. With the arrest made, the Chief and his partner resumed their East Portland patrol.

“The Portland Police Bureau Gang Enforcement Team and Gun Task Force are continuing to actively investigate gang and gun crimes in the City of Portland,” Simpson advised. “Anyone with information about gang and/or illegal gun crimes in the City of Portland is encouraged to provide information to the Portland Police Bureau.”

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